


Le Souris Chasse Le Serpent

by daphnerunning, Galiko



Category: Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic
Genre: Anal Sex, First Time, Frottage, M/M, tsundere boyfriends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-12
Updated: 2012-11-12
Packaged: 2017-11-18 12:09:23
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/560916
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/daphnerunning/pseuds/daphnerunning, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Galiko/pseuds/Galiko
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Titus shows up at Sphintus's door, a present in his hand and an apology on his lips. From then on, things get interesting.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Le Souris Chasse Le Serpent

This is totally unnecessary.

A ‘thank you’ from him isn’t going to do _anything_ for Sphintus. It’s not going to bring Lady Scheherezade any credit. It’s not going to advance his mission or bring him closer to the truth or even help counteract the horrors they’d seen down in the pit. It’s totally unnecessary, and stupid to boot, and Sphintus is probably just going to laugh at him.

What an _intolerable_ idiot.

Sphintus is such an idiot that Titus can’t _believe_ his feet carry him to the room the boy shares with Aladdin, can’t _believe_ he actually went out and got him a thank-you gift, though Sphintus will of course be obscenely grateful. It’s the least he can do, after all. And then he’ll thank Titus, and they’ll be even, and everything will be back to normal.

That thought firmly in mind, Titus raises his hand and knocks.

Maybe he won’t be home. If Titus is very, very lucky, he won’t be home, and he’ll get to go out to the shops to return the gifts, and see all the people again _by himself_ which was exciting enough the first time.

 

"Door's open--ah, whatever, I'm coming--"

It swings open with a too-fast pull, and Sphintus' head cocks at the sight, eyebrows lifting slowly. Of all people, this isn't who he expects. Definitely, _definitely_  not bratty, snobby, _weird_  Titus, who looks for all the world those very adjectives when his nose is in the air like it is right now. 

"Aladdin isn't here." It would be rude to blow smoke in his face, wouldn't it? Sphintus barely resists. "If you wanted to tell him something, I'll pass it on, I guess."

 

Now that he’s looking up at Sphintus, with that stupid pipe in his hand and that cocky, arrogant stance--what does he have to be arrogant about, anyway? About his family, from that little _backwater?_ About his magic skill--ridiculous!

Titus tries to remember that he’s not here to pick a fight. It’s for the best, probably, to announce his intentions. “I’m here to thank you,” he says, certain that Sphintus will be properly grateful. “For, ah, saving me.”

He thrusts out his hand, dangling both the little package and the ventilated box. “These are some of the finest leaves used for smoking in Laem. And this is the fattest mouse I could find at the pet store. For your snake.”

 

Huh. Well, this is new.

It's also pretty damn unexpected, and, uh, nice? Sphintus supposes. There's no shaking the suspicion that this is some kind of trap, though; this is _Titus_ , after all, and the guy is just all kinds of weird and manipulative and Sphintus only trusts him as far as he could throw him.

… Okay, admittedly, he could probably throw Titus pretty far, with how small the other boy is, but that's beside the point.

"You're… welcome?" Yeah. This is awkward. "It's what I'm here to learn to do, anyway, so it's fine. You didn't have to get me anything…" Though not accepting it would be as rude as this brat normally is, and Kukulcan is already slithering from the bed, smelling dinner. "Well, whatever. Come in for a second, at least," Sphintus mutters, stepping away from the door with a little sigh. "You're feeling all right still, I hope." It's more out of concern for his own skill that he asks, though he'd never admit as much. Aladdin would hear about it and scold him for three days straight about not giving a shit about other people enough or something.

 

“Hmm? Oh, yes. I’m quite healthy.” How do Sphintus and Aladdin _live_ in such a mess? Granted, Aladdin seems the sort of person who can understand the mysteries of the universe but not how to tie his shoes, but what is Sphintus’s excuse for not being able to work a simple hangar? Perhaps he should offer the assistance of some of his attendants to come and clean up--

No, that would come across as cruel. And funny, but he’s trying not to do that right now, at least not until this whole _thanking_ business is taken care of. Curiosity does get the better of him, and he asks, “Can I watch him eat it? Will he chase it if it runs? Is it bloody?”

 

Yeah, okay. Titus is definitely a weird kid, but at least that is sort of amusing. "Let it out and see for yourself," is his amused response as Sphintus simply plops himself back down onto the edge of his bed. "He's usually pretty fast about it. Really, though, didn't expect you'd be the kind of guy into watching that sort of thing; that explains the gift now."

 

“It’s more the lure of the forbidden,” Titus explains absently, eyes focused on the flared head of the snake and the way the muscles move under the scales, the intent way the slitted eyes follow the quaking ball of fur. “Laem is most famous for the gladiator fights, but I was never allowed to go.” He bites his tongue as the snake rears, suddenly regretting his decision as the head comes down on the unfortunate fat mouse. Then again, the way the quivering lump makes its way down the snake’s throat is entertaining enough to make up for it. “Fascinating! How often does he need to do that?”

 

"… About every two weeks." Sphintus squints at him, exhaling a long stream of smoke. "How do you live in Laem and not see the fights? And geez, sit down over here or something, you're making my knees hurt." If Titus is going to show up and try to be pleasant--well, Sphintus figures he can be the same, at least marginally. And hell, he brought Kukulcan dinner, so that's a few points in his arena. "Then again, I dunno why I'm surprised about the fights. Don't take this the wrong way--" He's going to take it the wrong way, anyway. "But you're kind of… sheltered." _As in Aladdin's a goddamn baby and seen more stuff than you._

 

Titus’s cheeks flush, but he sits nonetheless, gingerly picking a spot that he deems ‘almost clean enough’ on the edge (the very edge) of the bed. He blinks in the smoke--how can Aladdin stand to live here, the place is nearly as bad as one of those hookah bars he’s heard the guards talking about--and coughs once, delicately, _deliberately_. 

“My lady is very...particular about what she wants me exposed to. In Laem it is believed that a magician’s experiences shape his talent, and she is shaping mine in a certain way, I assume.”

 

All right, he's fun to fuck with, if nothing else. _Don't blow smoke in his face, don't do it._ "So she wants you pure and delicately untouched." Sphintus snickers, running a hand down the back of Kukulcan's head as the snake winds his way up onto the bed, slow and languid from how contently full he now is. "Considering Aladdin's already molested you once, guess that plan's ruined."

 

“I--”

_Damn_ Sphintus Carmen, this is not what a proper thanking sounds like. Or rather, the thanking for the thanking. Probably. Why, he doesn’t sound grateful at _all_ to have Titus--an Alexius!--in his bedroom. 

Titus folds his arms stolidly across his chest. “What he _molested_ was something I don’t have,” he points out, a bit grumpily. “I hardly think my lady would take issue with a little boy trying to--ugh, it doesn’t bear talking about.”

 

Really, really fun to fuck with. "What if he knew you were a guy all along and still wanted to grab your boobs?" Sphintus casually tosses back, taking a long, easy drag from his pipe. "Hell, you are kinda squishy either way. Aladdin's a sneaky one, the things I've seen him do to get at girls…"

 

“I--I don’t _have_ boobs,” Titus snaps, folding his arms tighter. “No matter how _sneaky_ he is, that’s not going to put--and don’t call me squishy! That’s just _fashion_ you’re noticing for what I _might_ add must be the first time.”

 

"Uh huh. What if he knew you were a guy and still wanted a piece? What would your Lady say then?" Actually, that would be pretty hilarious, even though Sphintus _knows_  Aladdin doesn't swing that way. There's been enough girls thrown into his bed to prove _that._

 

This is _not_ why Titus had come here. He barely restrains the urge to draw his wand and challenge Sphintus to a duel, reminding himself that such an opponent is hardly worthy of being defeated at his hand and besides Aladdin might be a bit upset to find his roommate dead.

Nevertheless he scowls, letting his hat fall forward a bit to cover his eyes. “M-my Lady doesn’t care about such base things, beyond my academical education in their regard. She’s far too lofty to be bothered by something like that.”

 

'Academical education' in...--uh. _What even does that mean?_  

Sphintus is really starting to think this one has been locked up in a fancy room all of his life and never let out. " _Everyone_  cares about sex in some way." Okay, it's mostly fun to watch Titus' reactions to everything the blunter he gets, especially now that he's getting flustered. He's definitely got a pretty face, especially when he's blushing. "Uh, though, if it's just in the _academic_  way, that's boring as hell."

 

None of his tutors--not even the ones Lady Scheherezade had hired specifically to teach him everything he needed to know about, well, all _that_ \--had ever spoken like that. “It was interesting,” he protests, thinking of the hours he’d spent pouring over those glossy pages of the textbooks. “My tutors did a whole unit on the mating habits of reptillians and mammals, including humans.” He sniffs. “What’s the tutoring like in Heliohapt, do they make you watch two pigs rutting?”

 

He chokes on his next inhale. "Hey, you're talking to royalty, you know--don't be such a little brat," Sphintus growls in return, and at his hip, Kukulcan hisses lowly. "It's a lot more _hands on_  than that, thanks. You know, like being hand delivered beautiful women that actually _have_  boobs. And nice ones, at that." He smirks, leaning back onto one hand. "Tutors telling you about 'mating habits' aren't gonna teach you a thing unless you actually have experience."

 

Titus vaguely remembers that he’d come here for something nice, something non-antagonistic. Now he flares at the tone more than the words, which are so ridiculous that he has to scoff. “As if the royal house of Heliohapt could afford to throw a single beautiful woman at you. Or do all of your brothers have to share the same one?”

 

A slender brow ticks upward. "Asks the little snot that's probably never tasted a girl's _mouth_. The hell do you know about sharing women?" 

 

Titus nearly chokes on his own saliva. He hadn’t expected Sphintus to come back with that--with _anything_ \--and to talk about sharing women as if it’s something people actually _do_? “I don’t have to have kissed a girl to know more about the _theory_ than you could even if you’d bedded a hundred of them!” 

It’s not his best comeback. He’s thrown, and it shows.

 

Ah, success. Sphintus blinks at him, unfazed, even as his lips slowly curl. "So you _haven't_  ever kissed a woman, huh." His head cocks for the casual addition of: "How about a man?" 

 

Damn him.

Damn him, and how the hell does he know that when Titus has been so careful not to tell anyone, when not even Lady Scheherezade knows?

He stands, face burning, and heads for the door. “Thank you for saving my life,” he says stiffly. “Don’t feel _obligated_ to do it again.”

 

God, what a stick in the mud. Sphintus kinda wants to smack him, or maybe shove a cat at him or something to make him stop making that angrily embarrassed face and loosen up a bit. Or perhaps even get him to smoke once or twice, that'll calm him right down.

It probably all stems from nearly getting expelled right along with him, and the fact Titus didn't seem _too_  bad, if he was risking his life for some little girl he didn't even know. 

"You know, in Heliohapt, we don't care about that sort of thing. Who you want to kiss, I mean." His eyebrows arch. "I don't know about Laem, of course, but wow, you should see some of the romance novels that get spread around in my country. Uh, point is--I could give you a _real_  lesson, if you wanted. Or are you saving yourself like that, too?"

 

The blood pounds in Titus’s ears. Can Sphintus possibly be serious? God, what an arrogant _ass_ , to think that he would--

To _offer_ to--  

He’s probably not being serious. Sphintus never is. Mu’s offer, that pitying offer to show him how a warrior deals with his own _urges_ , had been more genuine. “I’m not that _sheltered_ ,” he snaps. “I think I know when I’m being mocked. You probably just want to tell Aladdin about how you double-checked for him, right?”

 

Aaand this is what he gets for trying to be a little nice. "Actually," Sphintus snidely retorts, kiseru dangling from his fingers, "it's because you've got a nice ass, and a pretty face that I wouldn't mind kissing." He snorts, annoyed. "I _did_  save your life, you know. Part of it was because you were pretty, part of it's because Aladdin seems to like you well enough, and I figure if he sees something decent there, then there probably is." 

Titus blinks.

The anger drains out of him, even as he tries to call it back, because he _understands_ how to be angry when someone laughingly makes a grab for his ass. 

It’s hard to understand what to do when no one is laughing.

Or when the heat slowly creeps up his spine and it _isn’t_ embarrassment, at least not primarily. 

He swallows hard, looking away, face burning. Damn, if only he’d learned some sort of spell to undo the past, he’d just go back to when he was sitting on the bed and Sphintus had offered and he could say _yes_ without losing face, and then they wouldn’t have to talk about _why_ , and…

“Sorry.” He has to force the word out, but the next ones come easier. “I’m more used to people making a joke out of it. I’ve never known a man who...wanted to. Before.” Ugh, he sounds so _stupid._

 

That's a better reaction, and so is the apology, which mollifies his own annoyance, somewhat. "Come to Heliohapt, watch what happens… uh, actually, don't, that might shell shock you a bit." Lazily, he crooks a finger, scowl fading back to a grin. "Considering everything I've heard about Laem… I'm not surprised. I'm not making a joke, though. I was honestly curious when I asked, you just need to loosen up a bit." 

 

Titus hates himself a bit for the way he steps forward, automatically following the crook of that finger. Of course he doesn’t need to loosen up, he’s plenty _loose_ , it’s just that he’s from a whole different culture, and those barbarians from Heliohapt don’t understand how civilized people--

Then again, Sphintus wants to kiss him. 

Even the idea of it burns a warm little pool, something panicky and fluttery in Titus’s belly, and he swallows hard as if to drown it. “If you were just curious, then...no. I haven’t.” He looks down at his folded arms, at the way his hands are clutching so hard they’re white at the knuckles. “Though that’s probably pretty obvious to you by now.”

 

"Yep." He's amused still, of course, but ah, he tones it down a bit. It's more amusement towards Titus getting so damnably worked up over this, rather than him having never been kissed. Kinda seems like a shame, really, because he _is_  pretty, sort of ridiculously so, and Sphintus leans over to set his pipe down before reaching out and resting his hands over Titus', thumbs rubbing in slow, easy circles. "That's okay, though. I offered to teach a beginner, not an expert."

 

Sphintus is _touching_ him. His hands, and that feels kind of good and oddly reassuring, and at least he’d set the pipe down, and in a vague, giddy way Titus wonders if he’ll be able to taste smoke. He swallows hard, trying to calm the fluttering, trying to slow his breathing, and at least Sphintus isn’t being an ass anymore. Slowly, Titus tightens his hands on Sphintus’s, and _is the door locked did I accidentally activate the Eye of the Rukh can my Lady hear my heart beating even without the crystal I swear they can hear it in Laem--_

 

He's kind of like a bird--at least, judging by fast that pulse is going, that'd be a respectable guess. Like the little hummingbirds that Kukulcan likes to eat, even, and Sphintus grins suddenly, fingers tightening around Titus's wrists to haul him forward, abruptly between his spread legs to have him _closer_. Maybe _eating him_ would be kind of fun. "Calm down. I'm not gonna bite." A hand cups that pretty face, and Sphintus's head tilts, lips brushing the corner of Titus's mouth before parting to nibble at his full lower lip. "Unless you decide you like that."

 

Titus opens his mouth to tell Sphintus what an _idiot_ he is, how only a revolting peasant could think someone like Titus could _like_ something so vulgar, but all that comes out is a stupid breathy noise that sounds suspiciously like a whimper. Even the smell of the other boy should disgust him, but it’s intriguing, smoke and some kind of earthy musk, and Sphintus’s lips--his _lips_ \--are so warm against his own. 

He’s supposed to be learning, yes--but the best kind of education is hands-on, didn’t Sphintus say? 

Titus has never been so nervous in his life as in the split-second before he leans forward, a little off-balance physically and a lot mentally, hearing his heart like a drum in his ears.

_Much_ better. Even better than him being off-kilter and blushing, especially now that Titus isn't _talking_. 

Sphintus's hands drag around to Titus's hair, and somewhere in the midst of curling through it, his hat hits the floor, and Sphintus stretches up to kiss him all the better for it. He doesn't bite, no matter how he _wants_  to, because Titus's lips are soft and plump and asking for it. The sweetness of his mouth, too, is hard to resist when he nibbles and gently sucks on that lower lip, his tongue swiping over it slowly before delving inside, all while his hands tighten around the back of Titus's head. 

Yeah, he thinks he likes this one better when he's mostly quiet, making nothing but those little _noises_  and with his pulse pounding so hard that Sphintus can hear it.

 

Even now, even like this, even with Sphintus’s tongue in his mouth and oh god that’s probably the most obscene, arousing thing he’s ever felt, Titus _hates_ that Sphintus was right--

The books never said _anything_ about this. 

Oh, they’d talked about how _desirous_ mating could be, about the science of arousal and the fact that animals seemed willing to die for it, but it had all been so _clinical_ compared to the way Sphintus’s hands are in tangled rough and large in his hair, his mouth smoky and warm against Titus’s, and when he rests his hands on the other boy’s shoulders they’re so _broad_ , and it had never said anything about how his body would feel like it’s melting, about to fall apart or explode or how it prickles all over and makes him want to pant like a dog, fingers digging in to pull Sphintus closer.

They’d never said he’d feel so lost.

 

Really good. Really _much_ , much better, and a little rumble pulls from his throat before he drags himself back to let them both breathe, though Sphintus doesn't go far, not when Titus has softer lips than any girl he's kissed and ah, damn, pulling back was a bad idea because the _faces_  he's making, all flushed and overwhelmed and really, _really_  cute--

"Looks like you like it," he can't help but tease, and it's with an easy tumble backward that he flops onto his back, yanking Titus with him and on top of him. The kid weighs _nothing_ , anyway, and Sphintus wants to roll him over and see what he'll do if _his_  back is pressed down into a mattress, but he also doesn't want to get punched in the face, not when they're doing so _well_  right now about not snarling at one another.

 

Titus doesn’t let out a squeak of surprise, because that’s not dignified and he used to care about things like that before Sphintus was _touching_ him. Somehow, the way gravity sinks into him brings them closer than before, and suddenly he’s aware of Sphintus’s body against his in places he hadn’t thought about, like his chest, his thighs, his nose close enough to brush against Sphintus’s and all right, he’s kind of cute (kind of really handsome) when he’s not being an arrogant little fool.

Titus’s breath catches, and he announces, “I’m going to keep kissing you,” because if he’s saying it it doesn’t sound quite as much like he’s enjoying Sphintus tossing him around.

 

"Uh huh. That's what I thought." There's a sudden, gleeful thought of _what if I did bite, just a little_  and even better yet, when Sphintus tilts his head to the side to nuzzle and nudge at Titus's neck, _what if I left marks._

Now _that_  would be fun.

Sphintus parts his lips, teeth lightly scraping the side of Titus's neck as his fingers tug lightly on his hair, keeping it out of the way and also judging to see if Titus _likes that_ at all. He's been hard pressed to find a girl that didn't, after all, if he pulled just right. "You've got the _palest_  skin," he murmurs, and it's with those words that he _nips_ , just a light, tugging bite for now before he sucks gently over the same spot.

 

This is really obnoxious, the way Titus keeps wanting to say things, wanting to tell Sphintus he’s an _idiot_ and most people in Laem are so pale and maybe he would be too if he didn’t run around in the sun half-naked all the time, but all that comes out of his mouth are more panting, breathy noises that trail up into a squeal at the scrape of Sphintus’s teeth. He can’t help but wriggle on top of the other boy, eyes fluttering shut and hands tangling in the front of Sphintus’s tunic. “I--d-do that again--”

 

_Oh._  Yeah. Sphintus really, really likes that reaction. A huff of breath exhales through his nose, and Sphintus for once wants to do little but obey the other boy's commands, leaving him to bite down again, slow and firm with a little suck afterwards that he _knows_  is going to leave a bruise. The way Titus is wriggling on top of him isn't fair, and his chest heaves, a hand dragging from Titus's hair down his spine, kneading into his lower back as he _tries_ , really tries not to just grab a handful of his ass and pull him down harder. _Don't fucking scare him, he's never kissed anyone, let alone done something like this_. 

 

Titus’s mouth hangs open as he groans, losing all sense of propriety when Sphintus’s mouth is so perfect, so slightly _painful_ and who would have thought he’d like something like that? Certainly it’s nothing he’s envisioned at night when he’d taken himself in hand, as quietly as possible so he wouldn’t disturb his attendants. 

That thought leads to another, that he’s embarrassingly hard now--and worse, he’s sort of nestled up between Sphintus’s thighs, and it’s almost _impossible_ that the other boy can’t feel it. _Just don’t let him pull away yet, let him keep kissing me, I don’t want to stop_ , he repeats silently over and over, pulling Sphintus’s face up for another, harder, more insistent kiss.

 

Oh, to hell with it.

In one, easy roll, Sphintus has Titus pressed onto his back into the sheets, his own mouth hungry, insistent against those soft, _pretty_  lips. A hand twists up roughly into the other boy's hair--not _too_  roughly, though he's pretty sure now that Titus would like it, but certainly enough to pull when his fingers drag close to his scalp and his teeth nip, just a bit, into Titus's lower lip when Sphintus kisses him harder. 

Titus is hard against him, and that's all Sphintus needs to know, really--all it takes for him to grind his own hips down, breath leaving him in a fast, ragged exhale and his eyes shutting at how good it feels just to press against someone like this, especially someone soft and yielding and damn, Titus has nice thighs, too. He sort of can't help but grab one, kneading into soft, _squishy_  flesh and… yep, he has to pinch, _has to_.

 

Titus doesn’t even want to _know_ what kind of noises he’s making now.

Everything has shifted, turned upside down in a fraction of a second and suddenly Sphintus is _on top of him_ , the savage, and Titus doesn’t shouldn’t can’t like the solid weight of him, the hard press of his muscles down against him. He flinches, letting out a little yelp, thigh twitching as he squirms under the weight of Sphintus’s body. “I--”

Sphintus’s hand is on his thigh.

“I’m not--”

His teeth are scraping over Titus’s lip.

“But--”

And from the press of his hips down, Titus isn’t the only one who’s hard.

He groans, surrendering to the madness of the moment, and grabs Sphintus’s hand, dragging it up between his legs. “Touch me.” It was supposed to come out a command, but damn if it doesn’t sound like a plea.

 

These are the kinds of orders he can get used to hearing from Titus, and the kind he never, ever wants to disobey. But _still_ \--"Got a better idea," Sphintus mutters, tilting his head to give Titus's throat another, soft bite, even as he paws open Titus's robes, and--no surprise there, his cock is as pretty as the rest of him, flushed and aching and leaking as he drags a thumb down the length of it. His idea almost flies out the window, and his only reminder is how hard he is now, too, which prompts him to drag his hand away in favor of fumbling with his own clothing and puling his own cock free. 

Sphintus thinks he's probably going to hear something about how it's _disgusting_ how he spits into his own hand before wrapping long fingers around them both, but it would fall on deaf ears what with how his pulse pounds so hard in his ears that he can't _think_. Skin against skin is infinitely better--slick and hot and there's no helping the roll of his hips down into his own grasp, against Titus's own pretty, pretty cock, and he squeezes them both as he sucks on the side of Titus's neck, breath escaping hard and fast with each stroke and grind.

 

Titus never thought he'd care if someone had big hands or not.

That was before Sphintus's big hand wrapped around his cock and Titus's together, squeezing them in his grip and stroking down the length and that's _so much better_ than anything he'd done in the privacy of his own bedsheets. He has to remind himself that it's all right to make noise, no one is going to wake up and stare at him, it's only him and Sphintus and Sphintus's staring is only making him harder.

His fingers slide down to twine with Sphintus's, pale and dark together as he adds his own grip no matter how his breath hitches, how he thrusts up wildly into their joined hands and--

He squeezes his eyes shut, unsuccessfully biting back a shriek as he comes too fast and too hard and oh god that's _messy_ , spilling over both of them and their hands as he shivers, other hand still tangled in Sphintus's tunic. 

Their neighbors in the next room over are going to hear _all of this_ , and damn, if that isn't alluring.

The thought of someone walking in, seeing Titus Alexius sprawled over _his bed_ , flushed and panting and writhing beneath his hand--yeah, that's nice. Sphintus grins, biting, sucking harder at that soft, pale throat at his own breath escapes raggedly through his nose, hot, fast pants of it brushing over Titus's ear as he switches their grip, grabs Titus's hand and wraps it around his own cock. He can still feel the other boy shaking, trembling, but it doesn't matter when Sphintus holds his hand there, hips jerking forward into that soft, soft palm, and god, he comes fast, spilling over Titus's stomach with a breathless groan muffled into his bruised and bitten neck. 

 

Slowly, the realization starts to sink in.

Titus swallows hard, trying not to have a moment. He's filthy and sticky and messy, with an uncultured barbarian lying on top of him like this is some bloody trashy novel like Lady Scheherezade never lets him read. This wasn't supposed to happen, he'd just come over to thank Sphintus and watch a snake eat a mouse, not to be held down and rutted against.

Somewhere in the dreamy wriggly feeling between his brain and his mouth, the sharp orders get lost, changed somehow into, "Do all your kisses end like that?"

 

Sphintus rolls to the side with a heavy, sated exhale, some part of his mind reminding him that he's bigger than Titus and flopping on him would probably have bad results. "Nope." Reflex makes him reach over to thoughtlessly grab his pipe. "Just the good ones."

 

A slow curl of jealousy unfolds in Titus's chest. Sphintus gets to do this all the time? Is that what life is like, in Heliohapt? No wonder Lady Scheherezade's advisors had kept him away from such things. 

Then again, they're not here now, and he's sort of--extremely--glad.

"Teach me how to smoke?"

 

Sphintus blinks, the request taking him off guard--pleasantly so, once it sinks in, and he grins slowly. If he's single-handedly responsible for corrupting every bit of Titus, then he's damned proud about it. "Yeah. Okay. Where are those leaves you brought me? We'll try them together."

 

Titus leans to the side, plucking the package from where Sphintus had set it carelessly down. "I've never tried it, but they're supposed to be very good," he says, opening the box even as he tries not to wonder if they can grab a sheet or something, or if he's just supposed to lie here all exposed and sticky. "Uh--did you lock the door?"

 

"Nah." On a whim, Sphintus leans over the side of the bed, grabbing a discarded cloth to toss it to Titus. "Here, you can clean up with that. And relax, no one's gonna come in," he adds in-between wiping himself clean as well and resetting his clothing before fiddling with his kiseru. "Smoking's easy, by the way… you should do it more after this, it might make you less high strung."

 

The cloth is at least clean--at least, it is before Titus drags it through the mess on his belly, cheeks flushing as he looks down at the soft curl of Sphintus's cock. It's at least a good incentive to try and keep his temper, the idea that Sphintus might do it again with him later. 

For now, he focuses on the pipe with a little shrug. "Might as well. It's just one more thing I'll have to give up when I go home."

 

"… Do you have to think of it so pessimistically?" Sphintus grumbles, and he lights the pipe with a little spark of his own magic. Inhaling deeply, he shuts his eyes in pleasure, because god, when was the last time he had smoked something _this_ high quality? "Here," he murmurs, keeping it balanced in his fingers still as he holds it in front of Titus's lips. "Inhale deep and slow, and you won't cough so much the first time."

 

The only thing worse than humiliating himself by coughing would be coughing in front of Sphintus, so Titus is careful. He closes his lips around the end of the pipe, feeling a little thrill in knowing that they're sort of replicating their kiss from earlier, and breathes in slow and deep. The smoke curls and unfurls in his lungs, filling them slowly, spilling out from his mouth and nose when he exhales. "N-not bad," he says, a little hoarsely, but he hardly needs to dig his fingers into his palm to keep from coughing at all.

 

"Don't die," Sphintus teases, drawing his pipe away to take another, long drag himself with a content sigh following. "Everyone coughs and stuff the first time, don't kill yourself trying not to," he wryly says, and dangles it back in front of Titus's face again. "Here, it gets easier." 

 

The second drag is a bit easier, even if Titus does ignore Sphintus's advice and breathe deeply, determined that no matter what everyone does, he'll simply do it better. "Does everyone in Heliohapt smoke?" he asks. He hadn't read about that, but then again, he hadn't read about the royal family buying its sons prostitutes either. 

 

"Not _everyone_. A lot of my family does, though, so I've never really thought about it." Out of the corner of his eye, he watches Kukulcan slowly slink onto the bed again, coiling himself directly behind Titus's head. Hmmm. Well, if Kukulcan likes him well enough, that's a good sign--or maybe it's just because of the mouse. "Guess your Lady would be less than thrilled to know about this, huh?"

 

The thought curls like a hard lump in Titus's belly. "She...probably, yes. She has...very specific ideas about what kind of magician--what kind of person she wants me to be." 

He takes another drag on the pipe and relaxes back, eyes sliding half-shut. "Sometimes it's very tiring."

 

"Sounds like it." Come to think of it, he's never seen Titus this relaxed, has he? He looks a lot younger, and a lot sweeter. It's nice. Sphintus rolls over onto his stomach, propping his chin in his hands as he simply surrenders his pipe entirely to the other boy. "Well, you don't have to worry about it right now. It's the same thing with me, sometimes. I'm expected to do my best while I'm here and it makes my head hurt sometimes just thinking about it."

 

A thousand cruel retorts come to Titus's lips, and oh, any one of them would make Sphintus's face twist in anger, and Titus could laugh and crow about how perfectly he'd set himself up and it would be funny, and Sphintus wouldn't smoke with him or touch his cock or kiss his neck ever again.

Come to think of it, that wouldn't be very funny at all.

The smoke fills his lungs, and for once it's easier to just lie here, even nudging sideways a bit to bump his head against the other boy's arm. "Nice to take a break sometimes," he says softly, head rolling to the side to meet bright green eyes.

 

He's got to get Titus to smoke more often. 

Sphintus's lips twist into a slow grin, and he nods, shifting and turning to run a finger over one of the bruises he left so recently on Titus's neck. "Yeah. Just a little break is good enough."

 

Titus shivers at the touch, the smoke somehow making him feel just a little fuzzy, just a little inclined to roll around and smile and even giggle a little at the touch of Sphintus's finger. "Tickles," he murmurs, batting at it with a lazy hand.

 

Maybe with less strong leaves next time. Eh, no, this is good, too. "Good." He _does_ pry the pipe away from him for a moment, though, all as he yanks a sheet up and over them and settles down against Titus's side as he smokes. "You can stay for awhile, if you want."

 

God, when is the last time Titus had honestly just had fun? 

He'd enjoyed going out into the city with Sphintus and Aladdin, but that had been on his Lady's mission first and foremost, even if there had been a real cat. But this...this is secret, special, for no one but him, and his eyes are bright when he rolls on top of Sphintus instead. "What if I want to stay here?"

 

"Aladdin's gonna come back at some point." Not like _he_ cares, but Titus probably would, and he doesn't want to deal with his fussing about it. Sphintus lifts a hand to pluck at one of Titus's braids all the same, turning his head slightly to the side to exhale a breath of smoke. "But if you don't care, then neither do I."

 

For a split second, Titus considers simply killing whoever comes through the door. Not because he doesn't like Aladdin, but if a Magi finds out, then it's a short leap to another Magi finding out, and...

Then again, instead of murdering his best friend...

 Titus gets up, flushing at how exposed he is, and locks the door before wriggling his way back on top of Sphintus. "Just shout at him to go away if he knocks," he murmurs, "or I'll hide under the blankets and you can say I'm a girl, if he'll believe that."

 

It's not a bad plan, and Aladdin's brought enough girls back to their room that he _owes_ Sphintus. "It's his room, too, so he'll come in anyway, but we can try the hiding route," he snickers, draping an arm around Titus with a little rumble in his throat at how good the other boy feels, soft and warm and not a bag of tension that Sphintus would normally expect. "You _do_ look like a girl, anyway, especially underneath a blanket. That's a compliment, before you get pissed."

 

"I've heard it a lot," Titus admits, rubbing his cheek against Sphintus's shoulder, squirming around until he gets comfortable. "I know I'm not, and Lady Scheherezade never minded that I look like this, and a lot of men in Laem do. It's just when--I mean, thinking I'm a girl and grabbing my chest in public are really different things!" A little put-out at the memory, he huffs, flopping his head down onto Sphintus's chest and enjoying the warmth.

 

"… It was _really_ funny, though," Sphintus can't help but say, snickering at the memory as he drags a hand through Titus's hair. "To be fair, though… I don't think he even gets why that was, uh, rude. He's kind of a weird kid." 

 

"I know that now," Titus mumbles, eyes closing in pleasure at the feeling of the other boy's fingers in his hair. "After seeing the way he follows Meyers around like a puppy looking for a teat, it's pretty obvious." Idly, his hand starts moving, tracing little patterns on Sphintus's chest. "Did he try to grope you?"

 

"Nope, not once." It's probably just as weird being proud of that. "He did try to pet Kukulcan, though… and I swore he'd get bitten, but he liked Aladdin right away. Weird kid," he sighs through his nose.

 

Titus snatches the pipe back, taking a last slow drag before the leaves finally go out. He's rarely felt so good, moving a little with each rise and fall of the other boy's chest, feeling deliciously naughty about doing something so far apart from his normal behavior. "When you thought I was a girl," he murmurs, leaning up to tug on a triangular earring with his teeth, "did you think I was pretty?"

 

A little shiver runs down Sphintus's spine, and his hands drag down Titus's spine, sliding down to languidly curve about his hips. " _I'm_ pretty good at telling the difference, anyway." Though he had wondered for a few minutes--not that Titus needs to know that. "You're pretty either way." He smirks. "It's kind of obscene." 

 

That sends another pleased little wriggle through him, and the smile on his face is positively mischievous. Sphintus's hands are big and warm on his hips, and it feels sort of good to have them squeezing him like that. "Oh?" he asks, arching a fine brow, sitting up so he's straddling Sphintus's waist. "What's so obscene about the way I look, hmm?" 

 

_Damn_.

"… When you're sitting like that, everything," Sphintus mutters, his hands squeezing tighter before trailing down, brushing soft, creamy thighs and scraping his nails gently over them, liking the way Titus's flesh reddens so easily. His fingers curve around, giving Titus's ass a squeeze to boot, because how is he supposed to resist, exactly, when Titus is wriggling on top of him like that? 

 

There's an odd sense of power in sitting like this, in having a man want him. Titus has heard stories of that kind of thing but had dismissed them as things that were so far from his own life to never apply. Every little brush of his flesh against Sphintus's, every scrape of the other boy's nails into his thighs--just even the fact that someone is touching his thighs, that someone is looking at him like that-- 

It's intoxicating.

"Sorry," he murmurs, not sorry at all. He wriggles a bit, shifting forward and back. "How should I sit?"

Sphintus lets out a breath slowly, his eyes briefly shutting as his hips lurch up, body quick to stir when presented with something so _enticing_. Titus isn't sorry. He's _never_ sorry, and right now, that's a good thing. "Didn't say you had to change anything," he mutters, thumbs dragging over Titus's hipbones, giving his waist another little squeeze as he tugs him forward, just a bit--making it that much easier to rub his half-hard cock along the cleft of Titus's ass. "You look _good_."

 

Titus flushes pink at the praise even as he squeaks at the press of Sphintus's cock against his ass. The fluttery, pounding feeling is back, even though it feels slightly less terrifying, more familiar, like riding a wild boar he'd already tamed once before. In fact, he reflects, that might be a really good analogy.

He reaches back, wrapping a hand around Sphintus's cock, eyes lidding as he strokes. "It's different from mine," he breathes. "Thicker."

A hard swallow follows the touch of Titus's hand, and Sphintus bucks up into the touch, his fingers gripping until he _knows_ they bruise. That he likes, too--the idea that Titus is going to have bruises from him marking him up, something that no one else has ever gotten to do before. "Y-yeah." It feels _good_ , just rocking up into that touch, and Sphintus lids his eyes, dragging one hand down to slide his fingertips along the length of Titus's cock in turn. "Yours is prettier, though." _Just like the rest of you. It has to be illegal to be that pretty._  

Titus's mouth falls open at the hard squeeze to his waist, and when Sphintus's fingers brush over his cock, he bites his lip so he doesn't make one of those stupid whimpering noises again. It doesn't help much. He rocks gently, breath coming shorter as he bucks into Sphintus's hand. "If we do it," he says softly, swallowing hard at that thought alone, "you'll have to show me how to put it in."

_God_.

That goes straight to his cock, and Sphintus has to bite his lip to keep from coming right then and there, _regardless_ of how recently he already did. "You'd… ah… you'd want to do that?" Damn, he's hard now, and he hisses out a breath through his teeth, rubbing insistently against the curve of Titus's ass, shifting just enough so that the head of his cock rubs, _presses_ against that tight little hole before sliding away again. "You'd look really good," he hears himself pant out, "with my cock inside you." 

 

Wait.

What?

Titus’s breath is a strangled, choked-off gasp at the press of Sphintus’s cock, and he looks down, stunned. “Y- _your_ cock? In me? I meant show me how to get mine in you!” Surely he couldn’t be _serious_.

 

It's bad form to laugh. _Fuck_ , though, it is sort of funny. "Yeah, no. I don't think so. Someone like you… you're kind of made for it." 

 

It’s very difficult, Titus discovers for the first time, to draw himself up in a fit of offended dignity while someone’s cock is pressing against his ass and he’s straddling that same person’s waist. Somehow, it doesn’t ring quite true, even as the heat rises in his cheeks. “What the hell is that supposed to mean? You can’t think I’d _let_ you--”

 

Ugh, he's getting talky again, and Sphintus really doesn't like him that way. "It means," he breathes, gripping Titus's waist tightly as he lurches up, biting his lip at the slide of his cock against Titus's ass once more, "that you'd look _good_  writhing on top of me. If you don't want to, fine, but _you_  started this, so at least let me get off like this." 

 

“I’m not going to--”

The end of the sentence trails up into a strangled whine at the press of Sphintus’s cock against him, hard and hot and god, it’s got to be painful to be that hard, _he’s got to be aching_ \--

Titus bites his lip, knowing he can hardly hide how much he likes it when Sphintus rubs up against him, at the thought of the other boy just _using_ him like this to get off, like one of the beautiful women provided for his education. His head bows as he groans at the thought, hands bracing against Sphintus’s chest. “I--” his voice comes out hoarse and low. “If that’s how you want to--use me--” Just saying the words makes him harder, as he’d guessed it would.

 

Hell, if he’s going to be educating himself, he might as well be _thorough_.

 

That's just not _fair_. 

Does Titus even _hear_  himself? Sphintus swallows hard, biting his lip to keep back a rumbling groan as his hips jerk, trying so, _so_  hard not to just lift the frustrating little brat up and set him down on his cock. "You're… not playing fair," he rasps, brow furrowing as his fingers slide around, kneading into the soft, soft curve of Titus's ass, digging in to pull his cheeks apart because _god_  if he can help it. "When you say things like that… it makes me want to shove your face in the bed." He nearly _does_ , when his cock catches against that tight little hole again.

 

Something secret and gleeful, some part of Titus he didn’t even know about, is enjoying this far, far too much. How can it be this good when this is something people do every day? How has he been _missing this_ every day when he could have had it from anyone he wanted, probably?

Not to mention that Sphintus is always fun to torment, and this just gives him more ways to do that.

It’s an entirely honest groan Titus lets out when he presses himself back, mouth falling open as the head of Sphintus’s cock presses just slightly inside, enough to promise a thick stretch and ah, god, he’d never even _considered_ having anything up there and how can it be that he’s passed _no never I’d die first_ and somehow landed in _yes please I’ll ask nicely_ with barely a minute in between?

He wants, childishly, to ask Sphintus to do it without hurting him, but that’s not the kind of thing an Alexius would say. Then again, an Alexius probably wouldn’t be loving having a barbarian squeezing his ass and rubbing his cock on it, either. “J-just--” He swallows, cock twitching at the thought of Sphintus shoving him around like that. “If you know how to do it…”

 

That's permission if he's ever heard it. Sphintus moves, grabbing Titus by the arm to haul him off and toss him down, making good on his face-to-the-bed threat in an instant. One hand presses between the boy's shoulder blades, holding him down--because if he's not mistaken, and he's _not_ , Titus _likes that_. It brings a little smirk to his lips, something that quickly fades when he's reminded of how much he _wants_. Just a lurch of his hips does that, grinding against the curve of Titus's ass, and god, he has to do this fast, or he's going to _die_. 

It's been too long since he's had another boy in his bed. Definitely it's not something he's done while here at school, and so it takes some quick-thinking to remember the oil stashed in their bedside table--better suited for dry skin (or in a previous case, all of the cracks and callouses Aladdin acquired killing himself with physical training), but it'll do for now, especially when it's warm and slippery and dripping over his fingers, along the cleft of Titus's ass. "Relax." Easier said than done, he knows, especially when _Sphintus_  is trembling just dragging a finger against him before slowly wriggling it inside. "I'll make sure it doesn't hurt." _Unless you like that--you probably would._

 

In a way it’s better, a _lot_ better, having his face shoved down into the bed. Okay, in a _lot_ of ways it’s a _lot_ better, and Titus is leaking against the sheets in a thin, steady drip. Better, because Sphintus can’t see his face or hear him clearly, so he can make whatever embarrassing faces and noises he wants. Better, because it makes him so exquisitely vulnerable, just something pretty for Sphintus to use, and at just that thought he spreads his knees wider apart on the bed, shivering as his back arches. 

At the first slide of that long, slick finger inside him, Titus bites the sheet, lurching forward until he calms himself, slowly easing back onto it. It doesn’t feel _bad_ , certainly doesn’t hurt, and just the _idea_ that Sphintus has a finger in his ass is so obscenely lewd that it makes him shudder. 

 

A few choice words come to mind-- _slut_  is one of them, and it nearly slides off of his tongue in a sort of affectionate tease as he wriggles his finger in deeper, the thrust and curl of it enough to drive _Sphintus_  mad with how tight Titus feels around it. Just watching Titus would probably be enough, because there's no doubt he's enjoying this, from the splay of his legs to the way he's dripping on the sheets, and Sphintus grips one hip tightly, holding him still as a second finger twists in to join the first. "Good?" he rasps, and oh, he can't _help_  but turn his hand and slide long fingers in as deep as he can, _stroking_  to find something _better_.

 

Titus can’t help but wriggle around, high keening noises coming from his mouth, only partially muffled by the pillow. The dark little thought enters his head that _Sphintus is right, maybe I am built for this_ , and even that just makes him spread his legs wider. With his face buried in the pillow, there’s no one to see him or judge him, no one to tell him he shouldn’t act this way, should uphold the dignity of the empire. All there is is what he _feels_ , and with long slick fingers inside him, all he feels is--holy god oh my what the _fuck is that--_

Titus is pretty sure he’s biting a hole in the sheets now, and he nearly wails as Sphintus rubs over something that makes him see stars, makes him thrash and squirm and before he can catch his breath he’s coming, clenching down hard, every muscle drawn tight.

 

The way Titus squeezes, _shudders_  around his fingers is enough to make his mouth go dry, and fuck if he can help but dragging his fingers over that spot again, just to watch Titus squirm more as he spills over the bed, twitching and thrashing. Sphintus swallows, shutting his eyes briefly to get ahold of himself as he eventually drags his hand away, wiping it on the sheets. "Told you you were made for this," he breathes, and maybe someone that's more of a gentleman would _wait_  before going much further. He's not that person, and he's pretty sure Titus doesn't want him to be, not when he can rub the slick head of his cock against his hole, not when just that first, tense, _tight_  push forward sucks the breath from his lungs, and _god_  Titus feels good, slick and shivery and so tight around him that he probably sinks in too fast, too hard, shoved into the hilt with one smooth slide.

 

When Sphintus first pushes in, Titus is little more than a boneless, twitching thing, sagging down from where Sphintus holds his hips up. It’s probably better this way, because he offers no resistance when Sphintus slides into him, beyond a low, broken groan that turns into a sob. Tears prick his eyes at how suddenly, overwhelmingly _full_ he is, and he’s arching, twisting a hand back over his shoulder to grab a handful of Sphintus’s tunic, clutching it tightly. “Ah,” he pants, turning so his cheek is pressed against the bed, face flushed and tear-streaked, “f-feels good, I--good, I--please--” 

He can’t even _breathe._

 

Shakily, Sphintus grabs that clutching, clinging hand, untangling it and pressing a wet kiss to Titus's knuckles before setting it down. "I get it, don't worry; I'll take care of you," he breathes, and a hand smoothes up Titus's back, pressing down into a shoulder to _hold_  him there, face down into the bed. Sphintus's teeth sink into his lower lip as he slides his cock out slowly, only getting out about half-way before _needing_  to be back inside, and he's less than gentle when he shoves back in, breath leaving him in a rush and his fingers digging into Titus's skin. "God, you look like you _love it_." 

 

Whatever Titus tries to say comes out as a garbled, grateful groan as Sphintus sinks into him, his thighs trembling as he tries to spread them farther apart, tries to compensate somehow for that _stretch_. It doesn’t really work--he’s still stuffed so full he feels like he’ll burst, but that dark part of him loves it, loves it like he loves being shoved down into the bed and _fucked_. 

Sphintus gets it. He understands what Titus needs, steals his breath with every thrust, and Titus can’t do anything but bite the sheets and shove back, near-desperate for more.

 

At some point, Sphintus's mind effectively clicks off. There's little he can focus on but the sounds Titus is making, how hot and _tight_  he is around him, and at some point, he simply slides a hand down to fist a hand into Titus's hair, twisting and pulling and holding him down as he fucks him. 

He's gentler than he normally would be, at least, with someone that _loves_  getting fucked like this--but Titus feels so good, slick and trembly and god he's _soft_ , no matter where Sphintus puts his hands and grabs, hauling him back onto his cock which each thrust, bending over him to bite and suck at pale, pale shoulders, and there's no helping how fast he comes, not with how wound up he already is and with how deep he can shove himself inside, spilling himself there with a ragged, mindless groan.

 

At some point, in the wet hot full painful _perfect_ mess that is his life now, Titus vaguely realizes that Sphintus has stopped moving, deeper than ever inside him, so deep that Titus can feel himself twitching uselessly around the thick cock inside him. He groans, making a pathetic attempt to lift his head from where Sphintus is holding it down, batting weakly at the other boy’s hand. “D-don’t...what are you doing, don’t _stop_ , I want more.”

 

" _Harlot_ ," Sphintus groans, sagging forward helplessly to bury his face down into Titus's hair. "Geez, just… just give me five minutes at least, you're gonna kill me." Of all the people that would be like this, he didn't expect it to be _Titus_. 

 

“Not a harlot,” Titus mutters, experimentally squeezing his muscles down around Sphintus’s softening cock. Hmm, interesting. “If anything, I brought _you_ presents, so you’re the harlot. Harlot.” That doesn’t really explain why he’d enjoyed getting fucked so much, but as good as he feels, Titus can’t quite bring himself to care.

 

Sphintus exhales on a hiss, shutting his eyes before he gives up, and slowly, carefully pulls out with a ragged little exhale. "Gonna hurt yourself if we do this all night," he mutters, and he gives the back of one of Titus's thighs a pinch. "Save it, it's not like you can't come back for more." 

 

Titus makes a face, flopping onto his back with a put-out little scowl. “Easy for you, you get to do this all the time. Weren’t you more...insatiable, your first time?” Unvoiced is the thought that Lady Scheherezade could call him home any day--any _minute_ \--and all those chances to ‘come back for more’ will be gone.

 

At that, Sphintus grins, flopping himself down next to Titus with a slow stretch. "Not anywhere _close_  to this. You're, ah… textbook repressed, I'd say. Should've known, when you liked it when I just manhandled you a bit."

 

It’s a heady sort of power, being able to touch another person’s body wherever he wants, especially a _man’s_. Titus takes full advantage of it, running his hand over Sphintus’s collarbone, down his neck to his belly, over strong thighs and up again, shivering a bit. “Liked it,” he admits, arching his neck to show off his newly acquired marks. “You can bite me harder next time, if you want.” 

 

Whatever switch he's flipped, Sphintus likes it--a _lot_. His own hand lifts, dragging down Titus's throat, thumb brushing over the marks he's left and he can't help but wonder how Titus is going to feel about those in the morning. "Yeah? Then I will. You're gonna look like someone ate you alive." _You already do._

 

Titus shivers under Sphintus’s hand, purring a little at the twinge of pain that goes through him. “The things I do for a thorough education, hmm?” he asks, the most relaxed grin Sphintus has probably ever seen on his face. “At least I know I have an experienced teacher.”

 

_Please be like this in the morning, I don't want to have Kukulcan bite you and then hide your body_. "Glad to please." He yanks a sheet up over them and leans in to press a last, absent kiss to the corner of Titus's mouth. "If you snore, I'm kicking you out." 

 

Titus blinks, mouth opening and closing in surprise a few times. “Hey! I thought you said five minutes! Now you’re going to sleep on me?” Though come to think of it, now that he’s cooling down his joints are starting to feel a bit sore, and he _does_ feel oddly loose and twitchy and _messy_ back there…

 

"I lied," Sphintus says around a yawn, and promptly drags a pillow over Titus's head. "Plus, I was serious when I said you'd hurt yourself at this rate. I can't be held responsible for what I do when you beg me to fuck you harder." 

 

Titus grumbles, batting the pillow to the side and nuzzling his head onto Sphintus’s shoulder instead. “You’re going to fuck me hard tomorrow,” he says, as imperiously as he can manage through a yawn. “Or I’ll hit you.” 

 

"Yeah, yeah." He promptly winds an arm around Titus, dragging him closer as Kukulcan slithers closer to coil up on the pillow next to them. "No guarantees I won't like it, though."


End file.
